Awe of Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Perspective of ICH Tourists

Emotion is an important motivation and experience for tourists, and awe is one of the most anticipated emotional experiences in the travel sector. Previous studies of awe have focused on the natural environment and cultural landscapes, but little research has been conducted on awe in relation to intangible cultural heritage. The current study constructs a research framework that explores the relationship between involvement, experience quality, and loyalty. We adopted a self-administered questionnaire to survey visitors who engaged with the beliefs and customs associated with the sea goddess Mazu on Meizhou Island, China. A total of 450 questionnaires were distributed, and 393 valid questionnaires were returned. Through analysis of the response data, we established that awe is an outcome variable of involvement and experience quality, as well as an antecedent variable of loyalty. Moreover, our findings verify the mediating role of awe between involvement and loyalty, and between experience quality and loyalty. In addition, through a multigroup analysis of male and female tourists, we found a significant difference in the influence of awe on loyalty between the genders. This study is the first to examine awe in relation to intangible cultural heritage, and its findings have valuable practical implications.